Bartees Strange shares two new songs, ‘Keekee’in’ and ‘Tisched Off’
Washington D.C.’s proudest indie rock son Bartees Strange had quite the 2022. After his 2020 debut LP Live Forever brought him some serious buzz, Strange unleashed the revelatory Farm to Table in 2022. With a bunch of touring dates ahead – including a run supporting Boygenius on their upcoming summer tour – 2023 could be just as bright for Strange.
But why wait all the way until the summer to get the hype train moving again? Rather than keeping the good things to himself, Strange is gifting us with two new songs to kick off 2023 in style. As a part of the ongoing Sub Pop Singles Club series, which has stretched all the way back to grunge pioneers like Nirvana and Mudhoney, Strange has dropped two new songs, ‘Keekee’in’ and ‘Tisched Off’.
“This song is extremely special to me,” Strange explains about ‘Keekee’in’. “During our tour with Car Seat Headrest the band had Covid. I was bunkered down with my guitarist Dan at his family’s house in the basement. I figured it would be cool to write something using only the tools we had. All of the instrumentation was done with stuff from that room. Matchsticks, pillows for drums, very random keyboards, etc. I wrote this song to get some feelings out I had about some business people I was considering working with—they ended up being shady and I was feeling very betrayed. I was thinking about how valuable it is to have people you can really trust. And how few those people are.”
I’ve watched enough RuPaul’s Drag Race to know the difference between keekeeing (kiki-ing?) and kaikaing. The idea that these music industry professionals are trying to get all buddy-buddy with Strange is definitely weird, but Strange coats it with enough loopy guitar lines to simply let you get lost in the mix. I’m really happy that Bartees Strange is becoming today’s most underrated indie rock guitarist.
As for ‘Tisched Off’, Strange gets into a bit dancier territory. Bringing the drums and heavy bass back to the fore after leaving them by the wayside for ‘Keekee’in’, ‘Tisched Off’ has some killer cowbell and dancefloor-ready rhythms. Despite coming off as just wanting to have a good time, Strange has a very specific target in his sights.
“As an up-and-coming musician, there’s a very special pain that comes with realising a huge chunk of the artists you’re competing with have way more money and resources than you. This song takes little digs at them. It’s cute. Tisch is like the fashion school at NYU. When I was living in BK I ran into a bunch of young punk bands and experimental acts that rose quickly from that school. I remember feeling like damn—how do you compete with people like that? They’ve got some very real resources. Anywho—it’s just me making fun.”
Check out ‘Tisched Off’ and ‘Keekee’in’ down below.
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